Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Another one of my should-have-posted-a-month-ago-but-all-of-a-sudden-I-got-too- busy-and-forgot-about-it recipes. This one is Roasted Butternut Squash Soup! Probably the easiest of all soup recipes but because it has only 2-3 ingredients and tastes absolutely divine on a cold winter day.

Ingredients:

1 Butternut Squash, halved, seeds scooped out

Some olive oil

½ Onion, chopped

3 Cups of Vegetable broth

1 Tsp of Nutmeg

Salt and Pepper to taste

(Seriously, that’s all the ingredients)

1. To roast the squash, drizzle olive oil on the squash (on everything that isn’t the skin), place skin side up on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Bake for 1 hour in a 350-degree oven. When pierced with a fork, the squash should already feel very soft.

2. Brown the onions in a large pot with some olive oil. Scoop the roasted squash out of the skin and into the pot.

3. Add the broth and spices. Bring to a boil, let simmer for 30 minutes.

4. Blend the soup in a blender, or use an immersion blender.

5. Serve immediately. I topped mine with some sour cream snowflakes but that’s only because it was the holidays! A dollop would probably work as well…

Bon Appétit!

Tom Ka Gai

This has hands down been my favorite soup for as long as I can remember. It’s never actually cross my mind to try making it until recently and boy am I glad I did. I read a few different recipes before trying it and though most (if not all) called for fish sauce, I opted out of using it because it’s not something we ever cook with in this household. The end result was delicious, and I will most likely be making it again as it was super simple and so delicious in smell and in taste.

Ingredients:

1 can of Coconut Milk

2 cups of chicken stock

6 oz. of bite sized chicken cubes

1 stalk of lemon grass (use the bottom whiter part, slit it down the middle and squish it to release some of the flavorful oils)

¼ cup of fresh lime juice (about one lime) – set aside the remaining lime skin

1 tbsp of sugar

1 tsp of ground ginger

1 ½ tbsp of curry paste

10 whole mushrooms, halved

Fresh cilantro

1. In a large pot, bring the chicken stock, coconut milk, lemongrass, lime skin, ginger and sugar to a boil.

2. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

3. While the broth is simmering, fry the chicken until it is just cooked.

4. Once the 30 minutes have elapsed, stir the cooked chicken, halved mushrooms and curry paste into the broth. Add salt to flavor according to your preferences.

5. Garnish with as much or as little cilantro as you like, I personally would a handful but not everybody likes cilantro as much as I do.

6. Serve hot, and enjoy.

(I originally put whole mushrooms into the soup but I thought they were way too big so I cut them in half, with scissors. Elodie thought it was hilarious so she took a picture, but I say, whatever works best works for me. I didn't have to take all the mushrooms out of the soup to cut them and barely added any dishes to the pile!)

Bon Appétit!

Zucchini Soup “Verdurette”

I grew up with this French soup, except I’ve revamped it a little bit as my mother does NOT like to add broth, salt or any flavour to her cooking. It’s creamy, healthy and pretty darn good for a soup with only three ingredients!

Ingredients:

6 medium sized zucchinis (cut into large chunks with peels)

3 cups of vegetable broth

6 Vache-qui-rit Cheese triangles (one per zucchini)

1. Bring broth and zucchini to boil in a large pot.

2. Let simmer for 20-30 minutes.

3. Use immersion blender until creamy.

4. Add cheese, let it melt and stir until combined.

Bon Appetit!

Sweet Potato and Coconut Thai Soup

I’ve become a soup junky! This dreary rainy weather has made me want to eat nothing but soup all day, everyday. Plenty more soup recipes will no doubt be coming this way… If you enjoy Thai flavours, you will no doubt love this soup.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. Sweet potato chunks (peeled)

1 tbsp. Canola oil (original recipe called for peanut oil but my poor brother is allergic!)

1 tsp. Mustard seeds

1 clove of garlic

1 large onion, chopped

1 celery stick, chopped

1 small red chili (chopped, seeds removed)

3 ¾ cups of chicken broth

½ cup of coconut milk (plus more to garnish)

Salt and pepper

Fresh cilantro to garnish (we didn’t have any!) :’-(

1. In a large pot, fry the mustard seeds in the oil until they begin to pop. Stir in garlic, onion, chili and celery until golden brown.

2. Add the sweet potato chunks and the chicken broth and bring to a boil.

3. Once boiling, bring down to a simmer for approx. 30 minutes. Blend the mixture with an immersion blender, food processor or blender until smooth.

4. Stir the coconut milk into the smooth mixture. Adjust the salt and pepper seasoning and serve.

5. Swirl a spoonful of coconut milk into each bowl for an added touch of delicious. Fresh cilantro would have looked good on this soup but we didn’t have any! L

Bon Appétit!

Tomato and Spinach Tortellini Soup

I recently discovered that I actually love soup. I never thought I did just because the soup I grew up with was mainly just watered down mashed veggies, not this amazing flavour explosion that it has the potential to be. The first of many soup recipes I am no doubt going to post (my dad bought me an immersion blender yesterday) is a Tortellini Soup. I read a few recipes online to get the main idea with ingredients, spices, etc. but used all the vegetables I could find to make it a bit healthier. When my brother has his first sip he said “wow, this is really good. Can you make this soup everyday, like can this be an everyday meal?” Like me, he didn’t even like soup before! Here it goes:

Ingredients: (this soup serves 8)

1 package of fresh tortellini (I used cheese-stuffed)
1 can of diced tomatoes
3 cups of vegetable broth
1 small russet potato cut into 1cm pieces
1 tbsp of Olive oil
1 tbsp of dried Basil
½ cup of chopped onion
1 clove of garlic
¼ cup of Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper

1. Cook the tortellini according to the packaging directions. Once drained, rinse with cold water and set aside for later.
2. In a large pot on medium heat, sauté the onions and garlic until soft/golden respectfully.
3. Add all remaining ingredients to the onions (broth, tomato, potato, parmesan), bring to a boil
4. Once boiling, turn the heat down to simmer for approximately 30 minutes and remove from heat.
5. Once cooled a bit, use an immersion blender to blend the soup to a nice smooth consistency.
6. Add the ravioli and serve ☺

Bon Appétit!